medz (madhi; Assyrian Amada, Mada; Achaem. Persian Mada; Medoi (Genesis 10:22 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:111 Chronicles 1:5Ezra 6:2Esther 1:3, 14, 18, 19; Esther 10:2Isaiah 13:17; Isaiah 21:2Jeremiah 25:25; Jeremiah 51:11, 28Daniel 5:28; Daniel 6:1, 9, 13, 16; 8:20; 9:01; 11:1)): Mentioned as Japhethites in Genesis 10:2, i.e. Aryans, and accordingly they first called themselves Arioi (Herod. vii.62), in Avestic Airya = Skt. Arya, "noble." They were closely allied in descent, language and religion with the Persians, and in secular history preceded their appearance by some centuries. Like most Aryan nations they were at first divided into small village communities each governed by its own chiefs (called in Assyrian chazanati by Assur-bani-pal: compare Herod. i.96). Shalmaneser II mentions them (Nimrod Obelisk, i.121) about 840 B.C. They then inhabited the modern A'zarbaijan (Media Atropatene). Rammanu-nirari III of Assyria (Rawlinson, Western Asiatic Inscriptions, I, 35) declares that he (810-781 B.C.) had conquered "the land of the Medes and the land of Parsua" (Persis), as well as other countries. This probably meant only a plundering expedition, as far as Media was concerned. So also Assur-nirari II (Western Asiastic Inscriptions, II, 52) in 749-748 B.C. overran Namri in Southwest Media. Tiglath-pileser IV (in Babylonian called Pulu, the "Pul" of 2 Kings 15:19) and Sargon also overran parts of Media. Sargon in 716 B.C. conquered Kisheshin, Kharkhar and other parts of the country. Some of the Israelites were by him transplanted to "the cities of the Medes" (2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:11; the Septuagint reading Ore, cannot be rendered "mountains" of the Medes here) after the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. It was perhaps owing to the need of being able to resist Assyria that about 720 B.C. the Medes (in part at least) united into a kingdom under Deiokes, according to Herodotus (i.98). Sargon mentions him by the name Dayaukku, and says that he himself captured this prince (715 B.C.) and conquered his territory two years later. After his release, probably, Deiokes fortified Ecbatana (formerly Ellippi) and made it his capital. It has been held by some that Herodotus confounds the Medes here with the Manda (or Umman-Manda, "hosts of the Manda") of the inscriptions; but these were probably Aryan tribes, possibly of Scythian origin, and the names Mada and Manda may be, after all, identical. Esar-haddon in his 2nd year (679-678 B.C.) and Assurbani-pal warred with certain Median tribes, whose power was now growing formidable. They (or the Manda) had conquered Persis and formed a great confederacy. Under Kyaxares (Uvakh-shatara-Deiokes' grandson, according to Herodotus), they besieged Nineveh, but Assur-bani-pal, with the assistance of the Ashguza (? the Ashkenaz of Genesis 10:3), another Aryan tribe, repelled them. The end of the Assyrian empire came, however, in 606 B.C., when the Manda under their king Iriba-tukte, Mamiti-arsu "lord of the city of the Medes," Kastarit of the Armenian district of Kar-kassi, the Kimmerians (Gimirra = Gomer) under Teushpa (Teispes, Chaishpish), the Minni (Manna; compare Jeremiah 51:27), and the Babylonians under Nabu-pal-ucsur, stormed and destroyed Nineveh, as Nabu-nahid informs us. The last king of Assyria, Sin-sar-iskun (Sarakos), perished with his people.

Herodotus says that Deiokes was succeeded by Phraortes (Fravartish) his son, Phraortes by his son Kyaxares; and the latter in turn left his kingdom to his son Astyages whose daughter Mandane married Cambyses, father of the great Cyrus. Yet there was no Median empire (such as he describes) then, or at least it did not embrace all the Aryan tribes of Western Asia, as we see from the inscriptions that in 606 B.C., and even later, many of them were under kings and princes of their own (compare Jeremiah 25:25; Jeremiah 51:11). Herodotus tells us they were divided into six tribes, of whom the Magi were one (Herod. i.101). Kyaxares warred for 5 years (590-585 B.C.) with the Lydians, the struggle being ended in May, 585, by the total eclipse of the sun foretold by Thales (Herodotus i.74).

The alliance between the Medes and the Babylonians ended with Nebuchadnezzar's reign. His successor Nabu-nahid (555 B.C.) says that in that year the Medes under Astyages (Ishtuwegu) entered Mesopotamia and besieged Haran. Soon after, however, that dynasty was overthrown; for Cyrus the Persian, whom Nabu-nahid the first time he mentions him styles Astyages' "youthful slave" (ardusu cachru), but who was even then king of Anshan (Anzan), attacked and in 549 B.C. captured Astyages, plundered Ecbatana, and became king of the Medes. Though of Persian descent, Cyrus did not, apparently, begin to reign in Persia till 546 B.C. Henceforth there was no Median empire distinguished from the Persian (nor is any such mentioned in Daniel, in spite of modern fancies). As the Medes were further advanced in civilization and preceded the Persians in sovereignty, the Greek historians generally called the whole nation "the Medes" long after Cyrus' time. Only much later are the Persians spoken of as the predominant partners. Hence, it is a sign of early date that Daniel (8:20) speaks of "Media and Persia," whereas later the Book of Esther reverses the order ("Persia and Media," Esther 1:3, 14, 18, 19; Esther 10:2), as in the inscriptions of Darius at Behistun. Under Darius I, Phraortes (Fravartish) rebelled, claiming the throne of Media as a descendant of Kyaxares. His cause was so powerfully supported among the Medes that the rebellion was not suppressed till after a fierce struggle. He was finally taken prisoner at Raga (Rai, near Tehran), brutally mutilated, and finally impaled st Ecbatana. After that Median history merges into that of Persia. The history of the Jews in Media is referred to in Daniel and Esther. 1 Maccabees tells something of Media under the Syrian (6:56) and Parthian dominion (14:1-3; compare Josephus, Ant, XX, iii). Medes are last mentioned in Acts 2:9. They are remarkable as the first leaders of the Aryan race in its struggle with the Semites for freedom and supremacy.

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire... CHAPTER III"THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDAEAN EMPIRE. THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES"THE .../.../chapter iiithe medes and the.htm

Cyrus.... The ram had two horns, because two nations were joined together, the Medes, who had revolted from Nineveh, and the Persians. The ...//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/lesson xii cyrus.htm

Appendix I.... Appendix I. MEDES AND SCYTHIANS (PP.73, 110). It is very difficult, if not impossible, to give a correct account of the national ...//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/appendix i.htm

Daniel in the Lions' Den... Now, O king, give the command and sign the law that, like the law of the Medes and Persians, it may not be changed." So King Darius signed the law and the .../...//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/daniel in the lions den.htm

Nineveh.... army came down upon Israel in the year 722, and killing Hoshea, carried off all the people as captives, settling them in the cities of the Medes, never more to ...//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/lesson ix nineveh.htm

The visit to Media.... deciding such a formidable question by saying that his father was the handsomest man in Persia, but his grandfather was the handsomest of all the Medes he had ...//christianbookshelf.org/abbott/cyrus the great/chapter iii the visit to.htm

Hebrew Captives; Or, Mordecai and Esther.... with the Persians. Both seemed to have become one nation; first the Medes gaining the ascendancy, and then the Persians. But the .../.../headley/half hours in bible lands volume 2/hebrew captives or mordecai and.htm

the Legendary History of Egypt... there is no opinion or tradition of knowledge among you which is white with age." Other nations disputed their priority"the Phrygians, the Medes, or rather .../.../chapter iii -the legendary history of.htm

Injunction (8 Occurrences)... Daniel 6:8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter .../i/injunction.htm - 9k

Interdict (6 Occurrences)... Daniel 6:8 Now, O king, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth .../i/interdict.htm - 9k

Repealed (3 Occurrences)... Esther 1:19 If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot .../r/repealed.htm - 7k

Cyrus (20 Occurrences)... The "first year of Cyrus" (Ezra 1:1) is not the year of his elevation to power over the Medes, nor over the Persians, nor the year of the fall of Babylon, but .../c/cyrus.htm - 39k

Persia (30 Occurrences)... Esther 1:19 If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot .../p/persia.htm - 20k

Nineveh (23 Occurrences)... About BC 633 the Assyrian empire began to show signs of weakness, and Nineveh was attacked by the Medes, who subsequently, about BC 625, being joined by the .../n/nineveh.htm - 52k

Japheth (12 Occurrences)... be questioned that the author [of Genesis 10] has in his account of the sons of Japheth classed together the Cymry or Celts (Gomer), the Medes (Madai), and the .../j/japheth.htm - 15k

2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 18:11 The king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 6:2 And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:(KJV WBS)

Esther 1:19 If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV)

Isaiah 13:17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 25:25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 51:11 Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 51:28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 27:23 Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Asshur and all the Medes:(BBE)

Daniel 6:8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Daniel 6:12 Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree: Haven't you signed an decree, that every man who shall make petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Daniel 6:15 Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT)